Mehsud, a senior militant from the terrorist group, was killed near the border of Afghanistan on Thursday

By Sun Reporter

12th February 2018, 7:40 pm

Updated: 13th February 2018, 8:22 pm

The deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban has been killed in a US drone strike, the militant group said in a statement Monday, as Washington continues to intensify attacks along the Afghan border region.

Khalid Mehsood, deputy leader of the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), died after the pre-dawn strike in North Waziristan tribal agency on February 8, the militants said in the emailed statement.

Much of the border with Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas is off-limits to foreign journalists, and strikes along the porous frontier are difficult to verify.

The statement comes as the US has massively stepped up its air offensive in eastern Afghanistan, targeting Taliban drug labs and Islamic State hideouts as President Donald Trump looks to the sky to force the insurgents to the table.